It’s the little things that make dining on a cruise so special – the delicious combination of gourmet flavors in every entrée, the special plating of that favorite dessert, and the stunning service that accompanies every course.
But why does a fine dinner on a ship often start with a very difficult challenge? The bread offered to tempt the palate and awaken the tastes is great, but the butter pats can be frustrating frozen bricks unable to be spread over the soft, warm bread.
The issue of too-hard butter has been brought to the attention of Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald. This may seem like a tiny problem, but in fact it is one that many, many cruisers have experienced.
“Simple question. Why … can’t they set the butter [pats] out about 15 or 20 minutes before we are served the bread?” a commenter asked. “It’s such a simple thing and the bread wouldn’t get ripped apart from the rock hard butter.”
Carnival offers several types of bread to diners, including crusty French baguettes, soft sourdough rolls, wheat rolls, and more. Each one is a delicious choice, but when faced with nearly frozen butter, the bread gets squished and torn and mangled trying to spread the pat evenly.
Heald answers hundreds of questions nearly every day on his popular Facebook page. Dining inquiries are often related to requests for tables-for-two or seating groups together, arranging a specific dining time, how special dietary needs can be addressed, or wonderful acknowledgements of spectacular crew members.
While the concern over too-hard butter may not be a common question, it is a common problem many cruisers have encountered. Heald offered a respectful explanation and suggestion for how to overcome this difficulty.
“That’s probably because it gets quite warm in the galley and so we have to keep it on ice otherwise it would be completely unusable,” he explained. “However, if this is a big thing for you then of course please simply ask your waiter and they will make sure they personally put it out 15 or 20 minutes before. They are there to please and I hope we see you having fun with us very soon.”
While travelers wouldn’t be able to make this request on the first night of their cruise before they have met their dining team, it is an easy ask that servers can accommodate without problems for the rest of the sailing.
Why Isn’t Butter Already Out?
While Heald has explained that butter pats can’t be left out in the galley due to heat – too-soft or even melted butter could be just as big of a problem as nearly frozen pats – why isn’t butter already on the dining room tables?
If the butter is left on the table, it would soften before dinner service but not get excessively melty. This might seem to be the perfect solution, but it can actually cause problems as well.
With gluten-free dining and other special dietary needs being of greater concern in recent years, not all travelers want bread with dinner, and therefore they would not be using the butter pats. Similarly, some guests may prefer their bread sans butter, and wouldn’t be using the spread no matter what temperature it is.
A butter pat may seem like a small, simple thing, but it is more complicated than just a bit of butter. With hundreds of tables in each Main Dining Room onboard each of Carnival’s 27 ships and each table receiving several pats for both early and late dining service, those small pats add up quickly.
If even one out of 10 tables refuses bread and does not want butter, that can be a lot of butter – not to mention the small foil wrappers – saved for every dining service. This can help Carnival Cruise Line continue to reduce food waste and be more environmentally sustainable.
Read Also: How to Make Carnival Cruise Line’s Melting Chocolate Cake (Butter in the Recipe!)
Because of health and contamination concerns, butter pats may not be able to be reused or re-refrigerated for future services, especially if they have been disturbed, such as 1-2 pats being used and the rest remaining on the table.
That may not be a problem at my table onboard (this cruiser likes a lot of butter on her bread!), but how do you use butter? Do you prefer harder pats or softened butter? Do you skip the bread altogether? Share your bread-and-butter preferences on the Cruise Hive boards!
